Welcome to the first edition of our quarterly newsletter, The Mother Tongue. This edition highlights our must-have product, SentinelOne’s EDR, and delves into AI-powered cybersecurity threats. Additionally, Managing Director, Steve Redhead, shares his advice on the risks of cybersecurity inaction. Stay updated on Liberty Communications following Mitel’s acquisition of Unify and BT Group’s delayed PSTN shutdown. Finally, meet our new engineers: Rian, Alan, and Scott, bringing fresh expertise to our team.
This quarter, we’re spotlighting SentinelOne’s EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response).
SentinelOne’s EDR protection is the world’s leading threat defence service for endpoints. It uses patented technology and behavioural AI to detect suspicious activity in real time, with zero detection delays. Traditional antivirus software cannot combat modern day threats and organisations need to replace their endpoint anti-virus product with an EDR-based alternative. SentinelOne’s EDR product is the best there is.
Mother has already declared SentinelOne’s EDR product mandatory for all servers resident in our datacentre, and is encouraging customers to roll the product out to all of their laptops and desktop devices to maximise endpoint security.
Cybercrime has evolved so quickly that it’s now the #1 agenda item in our connected world. Organisations must adopt a security-over-connectivity approach to protect their operations.
AI-powered attacks are evolving at a tremendous pace. They learn and adapt quickly making them extremely dangerous. Cybercriminals use AI to crack passwords, exploit vulnerabilities, circumvent basic defences, and trick people into revealing sensitive information. Topically, AI is also now being used to create fake news featuring undetectable audio and video impersonations that spreads confusion and fear.
Explore our RoundClock Security Suite, an all-encompassing security portfolio designed to protect your business from every angle.
“Cybersecurity is a monotonous and unproductive topic that gets in the way of business and frustrates us all. You can’t ignore it though. The threats exist in almost everything we do and organisations need to up their game to mitigate against an attack.
I’ve seen too many companies suffering devastating consequences from cyberattacks. Ransomware attacks cripple your business. And yes, we can get businesses back on their feet quite quickly if they’ve got good recovery systems, but the damage goes well beyond that.
You can spend months trying to reestablish trust with customers and suppliers. Many will stop trading with you until you’ve been audited by a recognised body, and the measures they instruct can reach well into the tens of thousands before you’re issued with a green light.
There’s nothing you can do to completely mitigate against an attack, but doing nothing isn’t reasonable. In my 35 years in the industry, I’ve seen many organisations with a casual approach to their backup and recovery systems. One disaster later and a casual approach will never feature again. Cybersecurity is the same. Don’t wait for an attack before you take it seriously. It’s not worth it.”
Steve Redhead, Managing Director, Mother Technologies Ltd.
You’ve probably been on the receiving end of PSTN Switch-Off campaigns from a multitude of telecom vendors (Mother included) but relax, it’s been postponed.
Openreach had initially planned to end all PSTN voice services by 2025 as part of their strategy to modernise the telecommunications network. However, last month they announced that the shutdown was being postponed until 2027. This extension provides additional time for consumers and businesses to transition smoothly to IP-based communications without disruption.
PSTN (Public Switch Telecom Network) lines are traditional copper lines that carry voice with an analogue or digital signal (Analogue, ISDN2 & ISDN30 lines). The ‘switch-off’ dictates that all users of the PSTN migrate to modern IP-based communications. Why? Because the PSTN has become too expensive to maintain.
The PSTN Switch-Off should remain on your radar but perhaps not your 1st priority. Cybersecurity matters are, undeniably, a far higher priority. Build the PSTN Switch-off into your Telecom and Connectivity roadmaps. IP-based communications are more complex but the flexibility they provide for modern-day working is superb.
Liberty is Mother’s Cloud Communications platform hosted privately in our data centre.
It is a robust, feature-rich IP-based communications platform that satisfies demanding IP-based telephony requirements for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Unlike our 3CX offering, Liberty encompasses multiple, best-of-breed vendors, to push the boundaries of what’s possible. There’s nothing we can’t do with Liberty!
At the heart of Liberty is Unify, which has now been acquired by Mitel, a global market leader in business communications. This strategic acquisition has positioned Unify as the second-largest unified communications company in the world, enhancing its reputation as one of the most reliable and competitive platforms globally.
Following the acquisition, we are seeing exciting new roadmaps that are going to further enhance our Liberty platform and ensure that, Yes, is the answer to anything our customers ask of us. Find the complete rundown on Mother’s Liberty Communications Platform here.
We are proud to introduce our new engineers who joined us last month. As Mother continues to expand, we recognise the importance of growing our workforce to uphold our commitment to delivering excellent service to our clients.
Pictured from left to right: Scott Grant, Rian Wilson, Alan Zaczek
Firstly, we are excited to introduce our new Systems Engineer, Rian. With over four years of experience in the IT industry, Rian has an established Technical Support skillset that surpassed all debut expectations within the first few weeks following his arrival. He has a professional attitude towards his work, willing in all his undertakings and gaining a healthy respect from clients following his engagement.
As a Systems Engineer, Rian provides IT support to our customers remotely via the helpdesk and on-site at customers premises. Desktop support comes 2nd nature to him. He is involved in migration projects, infrastructure deployments and, through his own professionalism, will inevitably be exposed to back-end server projects with senior members of the support team in the months ahead.
When asked why he joined the Mother team, Rian said, “I chose Mother because it’s a well-established MSP with a lot of experience within the team. I’m confident with what I can bring to the table, but the team at Mother can clearly expand my knowledge and support the personal goals and achievements I hope to gain.”
Additionally, we welcome a new Network Engineer, Alan, whose appointment expands our resource capability in networking and comms.
Before transitioning to Networking, Alan worked in the automotive industry with notable companies such as Halfords, Hertz, and Audi. He began his Networking journey at OpenReach, where he was involved in maintaining both copper and fibre networks. This experience was built-upon when he joined Vodafone where his skillset was enhanced with exposure to more complex networking challenges.
Alan’s recent roles have provided him with extensive knowledge of network infrastructure. At Mother, he delves deeper. Going beyond the network infrastructure, Alan is now involved in IP routing, firewall configuration, VPNs and WiFi to name a few. At Mother, Networking and Telecoms go hand-hand which also sees Alan heavily involved with Liberty. 3CX and everything telecom.
When asked why he chose to join Mother, Alan said, “Working at Vodafone gave me more insight into networking, but I wanted to pursue more in-depth knowledge that was not possible in my role there. I heard that at Mother Technologies, you are exposed to so much that you can’t ever stop learning. That’s for me. I love Networking and want to progress.”
Last but not least, we welcome Scott Grant, whose appointment is that of Graduate Network Engineer.
Mother has been involved with Universities across Scotland for many years where 3rd year students have embarked on year-long, full-time placements with us. Over the years, the calibre of these individuals has been very high and many returned to Mother with full-time permanent positions following their graduation.
Scott recently graduated from Abertay University with a degree in Ethical Hacking. During his four years at university, he gained experience in various aspects of computing, including networking, programming, IoT, and ethical hacking, which taught him the importance of cybersecurity. Scott joined Mother earlier this year to start his career in networking and telecoms. Even the most experienced of engineers find themselves in deep water when they join Mother and Scott is no different. He’s soaking up everything, supporting our clients and developing nicely.
Keep up the good work Scott. You’ll be dancing with your piers all in good time!!
When asked why he joined Mother, Scott replied, “I chose Mother Technologies because it’s been established for more than 20 years and has a very experienced team. I’d be learning wherever I went but with what you’re exposed to at Mother, I think the curve will be an accelerated one here.”
We are always delighted to welcome new talent to the team. We wish them well and look forward to their increasing contribution being recognised and rewarded by team and clients alike.
Check out the first edition of our brand new quarterly newsletter, The Mother Tongue! Read the full newsletter here.